Pixel phones from Google are getting an ‘enhanced voice typing’ feature, as per a report. This update by Gboard will allow users to enable enhanced voice typing with voice commands provided by Google Assistant. Besides enhanced voice typing, users can also choose to add auto punctuations with the update. The enhanced voice typing feature is rolling out for Pixel devices, including the recently released Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 in a phased manner.
As per a report by 9to5Google, some users have started receiving the enhanced voice typing feature on Gboard. On opening Gboard and tapping the microphone icon, there is a ‘New!’ banner that says you can ‘Save time typing’ by using the Google Assistant features. For example, you can say “Clear” to delete text, instead of manually using the backspace key. Besides that, users will also be able to say “Send” to send a message, instead of clicking on the button.
The feature was spotted being tested by Google a couple of months ago, and now seems to be rolling out to more users. More than just speech-to-text, this is a hands-free system for typing and entering commands.
Under the Voice typing menu in Gboard’s settings, a new option called ‘Enhanced voice typing’ appears, which can be enabled. There is also an ‘Auto punctuation’ option, which will automatically add punctuations like commas, question marks, and exclamation marks while dictating, when enabled. Earlier, users had to manually instruct Google Assistant to add the specific punctuations.
The enhanced voice typing feature on Gboard with Google Assistant is rolling out to Pixel 4, Pixel 4XL, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, and Pixel 5 users, although it still isn’t available for all the eligible devices yet.
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